Life's sweet for Staten Island pro basketball player Kyle McAlarney

“I think they need to hear that side of the story. I tell them that everyone is fallible. I talk about bouncing back.” -- Kyle McAlarney on his arrest

Moore Catholic and Notre Dame product Kyle McAlarney will stay in France's top basketball league this season, but has changed teams, signing a contract with Orleans.Advance File Photo

Kyle McAlarney had just finished a gym workout when he eased onto a stool in shorts and a tee shirt at the front of the Forest Avenue Starbucks in West Brighton.

The best long-range shooter in the history of Staten Island basketball — and one of the most dazzling athletes ever in this borough — is no longer the single-minded teenage gym rat who broke just about every Island high school scoring record playing for Moore Catholic.

And he’s not the all-Big East sensation, either, who one magical afternoon knocked down 10 3-pointers for Notre Dame against a then No. 1-ranked North Carolina team.

McAlarney’s 26 now, he’s spent one season playing in Greece, and over the weekend will be heading overseas for his third year in France.

He’s newly married to Islander Meghan McCarrick, a marathoner with her own on-line T-shirt business.

And he knows the difference between ordering wine with beef bourguignon at a French country inn or for a meal of grilled fish on a Greek island. 

STILL WORKING 

But has McAlarney really changed much over the years?

Well, yes ... and no.

“I still get up early and work out all the time, and try to eat right,” he said, pulling on an unsweetened iced tea. “But since I’ve been with Meg, I don’t take things as seriously as I used to and I’m not as hard on myself. She’s made my life so much better.”

There have been some on-court adjustments.

Ever the adapter and self-improver, McAlarney’s game has been modified to better mesh with the pro style in Europe.

“There’s more orchestration over there,” he explained. “The coaches have more of an impact and more control, and you have more of a defined role.”

The years out of college, his first spent in the NBA Development League, have also taught him more about the business side of basketball.

That’s why he is currently signed on with the Orleans team in France’s Pro A League following two seasons at rival Limoges.

Last season, there were issues between the coach and the ownership in Limoges, the sort of thing that might remind a New Yorker of the George Steinbrenner-Billy Martin days.

“Because of that, everything was being over-analyzed and over-dramatized,” said McAlarney.

He believes the turmoil cost the team a playoff spot.

“I decided not to wait around to see what was going to happen there next,” he said.

Instead, he signed with his new club in the little Loire River city of Orleans, just an hour from the heart of Paris.

“Now we’ll be able to get into the Hard Rock Cafe when we need to get some wings,” he laughed of the move closer to the City of Light. “And there’s a big Notre Dame club there that gets together to watch the Irish football games.”

Yes, Notre Dame is still a big part of McAlarney’s life, though after his suspension from school in 2007 following a misdemeanor marijuana possession arrest, the relationship looked as if it would never be fully healed. 

HONEST TALK 

McAlarney credits Irish coach Mike Brey with convincing him to return to South Bend the following semester.

“I thought hard about transferring to Xavier to play for Sean Miller (now at Arizona),” he admits of that moment. “If I did, who knows what would have happened?”

Brey insisted Notre Dame was where McAlarney belonged.

“(Brey) kept telling me that he wanted me to come back, that he needed me there,” said the player who finished his career as the Irish’s No. 3 all-time 3-point shooter despite missing half a season to the suspension.

He never fails to mention that part of his life when speaking to kids.

“I don’t shy away from it,” he said. “I think they need to hear that side of the story. I tell them that everyone is fallible. I talk about bouncing back.”

McAlarney still visits South Bend regularly, is close with the Irish coaching staff, and has always thought about a future in coaching.

“I feel like my story with Notre Dame isn’t finished,” he admits. “I don’t think I could ever pass up the chance to go back there.”

For now, however, he still wants to play.

“Until the wheels fall off,” he says. “I’ve spoken to a lot of guys who stopped before they had to, and who regret the decision. I still love the game.”

And France suits him just fine.

“It’s a very different lifestyle,” McAlarney acknowledged. “Things are slower. But the food is great, and the travel is interesting. And now, with Meg, I have someone to share it with me.” 